Suspender connection



Jan; 18, 1938. J. w. DICK SUSPENDER CONNECTION Filed June 22, 1936 Patented Jan. 18, 1938 units stares PATENT fii i i ilh Application June 22,

1936, Serial No. 86,683

In Canada September 24, 1934 6 Claims.

In the following description, the term suspender means braces or supports and is a device consisting of straps and other accessories for supporting articles of wearing apparel on the human body; the term socket member means that which has a pivot hole in its base; the term headed member means that which has a stem having a head to be inserted in a seat in the socket member and whose pivot stem plays in the pivot hole in. the socket member.

My invention relates to improvements in suspenders in which a separable ball and socket or any separable swivelling connection is incorporated; the object being to provide a form of detachable connection, preferably between the shoulder straps and the tabs or button straps that are attached to the clothing, whose parts will always work freely and which will not only permit a ready separation of the parts, but will also permit a rotation of the tabs or shoulder straps each independently of each other and will provide an easy means of removing any twist out of the shoulder straps or tabs without the necessity of unfastening the tabs from either the article of clothing or the shoulder straps; and that will enable the tabs to be attached to the article of clothing at random, the connection taking care of any accidental twist in either the shoulder straps or tabs and will also enable the wearer to detach, as well as adjust, the tabs, while in use, with self-help only, and thereby provide a degree of comfort and convenience not hitherto attainable. The principal feature of the invention consists in the provision of a suspender connection, one member of which comprises a ball headed stem and the other a cupped or socket member having a slot in the side leading to a pivot hole at the bottom, said hole being of greater diam eter than the stem to permit it freedom of movement to oscillate while the walls of the slot adjacent to the pivot hole are spaced apart a distanceless than the thickness of the stem and are adapted to be temporarily separated to admit said stem to secure the ball end in the socket and control same against accidental displacement of the stem from a position normal to the socket.

My improvement is shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. 1 is a front elevation of a separable ball and socket swivel connection arranged to control the pivot stem in the pivot hole.

Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation of Fig. 1 in section through line 22, Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is an inverted plan of Fig. 1 in section through line 33, Fig, 1.

Fig. 4 is an inverted plan of a modified 101m of device, showing projections at the entrance to pivot hole.

Fig. 5 is a front elevation of a further modified form of separable ball and socket swivel connection illustrating the application of a clip or sleeve operated by a spring and controlling the pivot stem in the pivot hole.

Fig. 6 is a front elevation of the control sleeve removed from the socket member.

Fig. 7 is a side elevation of the sleeve shown in Fig.

Fig. 8 is an inverted plan view of Fig. 6.

In the accompanying drawing like parts are identified by the same reference characters, as follows:

I is that part of the connection, formed of any suitable material but preferably formed of sheet metal, having a loop 2 to which attaches a strap it of the suspender. On the lower part of I is formed a socket or cupped member 3, the cavity of which is adapted to loosely contain a ball i. On the lower part of ball 4 is formed a stem 5 which projects loosely through pivot hole It in socket 3. On the lower end of stem 5 is formed a suitable part or means i to support the tabs l4 which attach to the clothing.

Socket 3 is constructed with an opening 8 in the side wall adjacent to its upper end large enough to permit free ingress and egress of the ball 5. opening 8 is connected with pivot hole in by slot 6. The pivot hole H7 will not allow ball 4 to pass therethrough. Slot 5 is constructed so that pressure is required to force stem 5 through its lower end into pivot hole l0. Stem. 5, when under the application of pressure, can be moved in and out of pivot hole Hi as desired for the purpose of disconnecting the garment support. The control of pivot stem 5 in pivot hole 16 While allowing the stem to oscillate will control same from being accidentally disconnected or fouled and may be arranged for either by narrowing the slot as shown in Fig. 1 or by the arrangement of projections or ridges 82 in the inner end of slot 5, or as illustrated in Figures 5, 6, 7 and 8 there may be a clip or sleeve 18 arranged within the socket member to cover the inner end of the entering slot which may be controlled by a spring anchored or attached to the socket member and which allows the stem of a connecting ball headed member to be forced past into the pivot hole of the socket member and then the sleeve actuated by the spring automatically covers the inner end of the entering slot at the point where the slot joins the pivot hole, thereby preventing the escape of the pivot stem from the pivot hole, except as desired. This form of the invention is illustrated in Figures 5, 6, '7 and 8, in which I is that part of the connection, formed of any suitable material, preferably sheet metal having a loop 2 to which attaches a strap I3 of the suspender. On the lower part of I is formed a socket or cupped member 3 in which is fitted a rotatable sleeve II which is adapted to control stem 5. Socket 3 is adapted to loosely hold the ball 4 within the sleeve II. On the lower part of ball 4 is formed a stem 5 which projects loosely through the pivot hole I5 in the bottom of sleeve II (Fig. 6) and through hole ID in the bottom of socket 3. On the lower end of stem v5 is formed a suitable part or means I tosupport the tabs I4 that attach to the clothing. Socket 3 is constructed with an opening 8 preferably in the side Wall adjacent to the top large enough to permit free ingress and egress of ball 4. The opening 8 is connected with pivot hole II! by slot 6 which permits the free passage of stem 5. The sleeve II is formed with an opening I6 in one side thereof which is adapted to register with the opening 8 in the socket member I and said opening I6 is formed with a spiral or inclined portion 20 which is adapted to extend across the slot 6 of the member 3, the lower and transverse edge of the sleeve extending across the slot so that the stem 5 of the ball supported member will be held in the pivot hole in a position normal to the socket While having considerable freedom for oscillating movement.

The sleeve II is provided at its top end above the slot I6 with a radially projecting pin I! which extends through a narrow circumferential slot IT in the socket member and a coiled tension spring I8 is secured in the top of the socket and is connected with the sleeve to apply a turning movement thereto. I

The portion 20 of the sleeve l I normally closes the slot 6 of the socket 3, it being held in such position by the spring I8. When it is desired to disconnect the tab supporting member from the upper part of the suspender, the sleeve II is rotated in the socket member by moving the pin l! in the horizontal slot against thepressure of the spring I8 to move the member 20 away from the slot 6 in the socket member and aligning the lower part of the opening is in the sleeve with the slot 6 and thus permitting the removal of the ball headed pin by slipping same upwardly in the slot.

When it is desired to connect the tab member to the upper part of the brace, the ball head 6 is simply inserted into the socket member through the opening 8 of the member 3 and the slot I6 of the sleeve I I and by pressing downwardly, the stem 5 engaging the bevelled edge of the portion 20 of the sleeve and the sleeve is rotated to open the slot and immediately the stem 5 moves into the pivot hole, the sleeve slips back to its ordinary position by the action of the rotating spring and locks the ball headed pin against accidental removal. The sleeve not only prevents the pin being removed, but it prevents it from fouling in the slot of the socket member by swinging out of a position normal to the socket.

In a modification of the improvement the socket member may be somewhat elongated and have the means that control the pivot stem and prevent accidental separation of the connection, adjacent to the pivot hole and said means, may be in the entering slot, or may be on the inner or in side of the entering slot, or may be on the outer or out side of the entering slot, and the relative construction of slot 6 in socket 3 (Fig. 5) and the opening I6 in sleeve II (Fig. 5) may be reversed in each part, such that the outthrust part 29 is part of socket 3 and lies at an angle to opening I6 (Fig. 5), and the clip or sleeve II may be only part of a sleeve having a projection, or may be a projection or clip controlled by a spring, or may be a spring forming a projection in the inner end of the slot where it meets the pivot hole and controlling the pivot stem in the pivot hole; and it may be desirable that one design of the swivel connection may be more suitable than another at difierent positions in the suspender and that the rotatable parts of the connection may be used in a reversed position, if desired; and that any suitable material may be used in the manufacture of the connection.

I am aware that prior to my invention separable swivel connections have been made for suspenders used in supporting wearing apparel, I therefore do not claim these broadly but what I do claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. In a garment suspender, a member having a stem provided with a head, a shocket shaped member having an opening in the side to receive said head and a slot leading from said opening to a pivot hole in the bottom, and means for retaining said stem in said pivot hole in a position substantially normal to the socket member.

2. A garment suspender as claimed in claim 1 in which the socket member is formed of resilient material and the walls of said slot leading downwardly in the side wall of the socket to the pivot hole are capable of being spread apart to permit the passage of the headed stem.

3. A garment suspender as claimed in claim 1 in which the edges of the slot leading to the bottom pivot hole are relatively movable to enlarge the slot and permit the passage of the stem to and from the pivot hole.

4. A garment suspender as claimed in claim 1 in which a sleeve is rotatably mounted in said socket member and is provided with a slot and a portion to extend across the slot of the socket member to retain the ball headed stem in the pivot hole.

5. A garment suspender as claimed in claim 1 having a sleeve rotatably mounted therein, said sleeve having a slot formed with a bevelled side leading to the pivot hole, and spring means for holding said sleeve in a position to obstruct the removal of the headed stem from the pivot hole.

6. In a garment suspender, a member having a stem provided with a head, a socket shaped member having an opening in the side to receive said head and having a slot leading from said opening to a pivot hole in the bottom, said socket member also having a slot extending transversely above the aforesaid opening, a sleeve rotatably mounted in said socket member having an opening in the side wall registering with the opening in the side wall of the socket member and having a portion thereof arranged to cross the slot leading to the pivot hole in said socket member, a pin in said sleeve slidable in said upper transverse slot, and a spring rotatably actuating said sleeve to close the slot in the socket member.

JAMES WARD DICK. 

